GOP’s Insensitivity Toward Rape Victims

In other words, unless it was a violent attack, most poor women would not be able to obtain an abortion under that law.

But even though Romney and Ryan have condemned Akin’s remarks and distanced themselves from him, the fact remains that his comments, as well as that odious proposal, show that the GOP doesn’t care about science or fairness when it comes to women.

All it cares about is making them pay for their sins.

All women – especially black women – should be wary of this. According to Justice Department estimates, for every white woman who reports her rape, five do not. Yet for every black woman who reports a rape, 15 do not.

And self-blame, like whether their clothes were too revealing or whether they shouldn’t have taken that shortcut home or let a certain guy drive them home, is one of the reasons why many rapes go unreported.

Yet Akin adds to that anguish by saying, in essence, that a woman’s bodily reaction to being raped is the ultimate test as to whether she was really raped. And if her body didn’t emit some sort of rapist sperm repellent, then pregnancy is her punishment for lying – and she should just deal with it.

It ought to worry everyone that people like Akin are in positions of power. Because if nothing else, a lawmaker like him ought to give victimized women hope that if they report being raped, they’ll get justice. Not judgment.

Especially judgment that eschews science for the sake of ideology.

Tonyaa Weathersbee is an award-winning columnist based in Jacksonville, Fla. Follow her at tonyaajw@twitter.